AO3

• Bowlby's MDH: Evaluation Points

  • Evaluation of 44 thieves
  • Supporting evidence: Goldfarb
  • Lacked clarity when defining deprivation
  • Emotional separation ignored
• Bowlby's MDH: Evaluation of 44 thieves

  A key piece of evidence that supports the MDH is the 44 thieves experiment. Measurement of maternal separation was based on retrospective data through clinical interviews. The determinant of the findings was based on recall, which may have been inaccurate. There may have been researcher bias as Bowlby designed the experiment and diagnosed AP. He concluded that AP was caused by MD, which is correlational data that only shows the relationship between 2 variables when there may have been other factors which caused theft, such as income, education and diet.
• Bowlby's MDH: Goldfarb


  A strength of the MDH is the supporting research conducted. Goldfarb compared 2 groups of children in orphanages, one group who was there for a few months and another who was there for 2/3 years. Both groups were tested at 12 years old and found that group 2 scored lower on IQ tests, were more aggressive and less socially advanced compared to group 1. This shows the long-term consequences of MD as outlined by the MDH and also supports Bowlby's theory of a critical period.
• Bowlby's MDH: Lacked clarity defining deprivation


  Bowlby has been criticised for not distinguishing between privation and deprivation. The MDH is based on deprivation, where someone has an attachment but loses it, and does not consider those who experience privation, where they never formed an attachment. Rutter believed that privation is worse than deprivation and therefore an identified difference between the two is crucial when determining MD. This lack of clarity impacts the validity of the MDH.
• Bowlby's MDH: Emotional Seperation Ignored

  Radkle & Yarrow found that 55% of children with severely depressed mothers had an insecure attachment, whereas 29% of those with an insecure attachment didn't have severely depressed mothers. Even though depressed mothers are physically present, they are not emotionally present. This shows that psychological seperation can also lead to MD, whereas Bowlby only considered those who had physical seperation. This means that his findings may be inaccurate.